Red Blooded

Lily followed me, so I kept moving toward the cutout. “There are indeed pure-blooded demonesses, but only a few are born every century. They are treated like queens around here.” Did I detect a little cynicism? “But mixed-race demonesses, as you referred to them, are much rarer. One is only born once every thousand years or so.”

I stopped in my tracks, turning with my mouth open a little. “Are you telling me you’re the only female of your kind?”

“Yes, I am the only one,” she answered. “Imps are always born male, and from human mothers. Most other supernatural Sects are not compatible genetically with demons and cannot produce children, but my mother’s race is strong and fierce.”

I closed my mouth, thinking. “You’re part witch, aren’t you.” I said it more as a statement and less as a question. “Magic of the earth and magic of the blood together in one body.” I made an involuntary shushing noise in the back of my throat, before continuing. “That makes you one very powerful supernatural. That’s why you can’t or won’t take a witch’s circle out of here with me. If the witches know about you, it would be war the moment you stepped foot on my plane.”

There was no way I could bring that kind of danger home with me.

She shooed my words away dismissively with her hand. “I don’t have a beef with anyone, and they have none with me. I was not lying before. The demons will have disarmed the circle already. It has nothing to do with if I can use it or not.”

“Bull,” I retorted. “You have vendetta written all over you.” I made a sweeping gesture up and down her body with an open hand. “I bet you were cast out of your Coven when you were young—why else would you be here? Your English is flawless, so you have to have spent your formative years on the human plane—before what? They found out what you were? Or you rebelled? Maybe your demon side took over? You must have been quite a menace—”

She held me by the throat before I could move to defend myself.

A second later she tossed me across the room. I hadn’t expected her to attack, so it was my bad. My wolf howled at my foolishness. I hear you, I muttered. I flew twenty feet and smashed into a rack of something that broke apart instantly. Bottles and cans bounced all over, rolling around on the floor; luckily none of them seemed to have burst. I stood immediately, wiping blood off my lip with the back of my hand. “So I uncover your true self and you choose to fight me?” I asked. “Fine. We can fight. But it ends here. No more deal-making or aiding one another. The winner walks though that door alone.”

She sauntered over to me, loathing etched across her features. “You think you’re extremely smart, don’t you? That you have me all figured out? The reincarnate wolf enters our realm to save her poor brother… but what’s this?” She arched a hand behind the back of her ear and stuck her neck out. “She has demonic magic running through her veins? Sound the alarms and call the guards!” She faked a gasp and thumped a hand over her heart. “It seems this wolf has turned out to be a much greater threat than any of us had originally thought. And when they finally catch you, they will bring you into a room just like this one.” She spread her arms wide. “And if he’s not dead yet from his own stupidity, they’ll drag your brother in to watch. And once the deed is done, and they’ve killed you in the most horrendous way imaginable, they will send him home with his tail between his legs—but, of course, not before they inflict as much damage on him as they possibly can. Your brother will be sent back as a warning to all others, broken and out of his mind. Anyone who comes to Hell to avenge your death will pay the same price. They will all die and the demons will win. They always win.”

I didn’t think. I launched myself at her, my wolf snarling and snapping her jaws as images of Lily being torn apart flooded my psyche. I was in my Lycan form when we collided, my fist swinging at her face. It connected hard and her neck whipped back, followed by a satisfying crunching noise. Her body connected hard with the wall behind us, denting it. But before she could recover or throw me off, I yanked her down to the ground, snarling right in her face, flashing my teeth. “No one is torturing anyone, do you hear me? I’m freeing my brother and getting us both out of Hell. In one piece. And if I have to kill you, I will, with no hesitation.” Before she could respond, my fist flashed down, connecting with her throat.

She gurgled as her windpipe imploded.

Without pause, she brought an arm up and backhanded me. I knocked into a rack next to us from the force of her blow. This time a single bottle fell to the ground and cracked. Liquid seeped onto the floor around us and started to smoke. I glanced down at Lily, whose neck was regenerating quickly—quicker than mine had—and whose blood was all over.

It was red, a witch’s blood color, not the oily stuff that came out of the Prince.

I wondered in that moment whether she was more witch than demon.

“You can try to kill me all day.” She gnashed her teeth, bringing a hand up along her cheek, smearing scarlet. “But I won’t die, no matter how many times you try. My magic is something you’ve never encountered before. It makes me stronger than any witch or demon, and something you can’t best no matter how strong you are.”

“We’ll see about—”

Before I could retaliate there was a loud crackling noise coming from the PA system, followed by a voice that filled the room around us. “Attention, attention. We know you are in the building. We will find you. Turn yourself over, female wolf, or we will dispatch your kin. You have three minutes to respond. Thank you.”

It clicked off.

Lily pushed herself up and I let her go, a grim smile playing on her lips. “Still willing to risk your brother’s life by fighting me? I’ve never lied to you. I’m still the only chance you’ve got, no matter what I am, or how strong. And the sooner you realize that, the sooner we can move on.” She gestured toward the door as she stood. There was movement in the hallway beyond it. “I am the only thing that can defeat what lies out there. And because of what I am—a witch and a demon—they all fear me. And because they fear me, they will hesitate to react. I alone can get you and your precious brother out alive. Me.” She placed a single finger on her chest. “And you have one minute and forty-seven seconds to make up your mind.”

My mind raced. “There’s no way I can trust you, and the only way you’re going to keep helping me is if I agree to take you back to my plane. That’s not happening, Lily. You’ve proven over and over again how dangerous you are. Your powers are unique and strong, I get it, but that makes you a serious threat. Too serious to risk bringing you back.”